Navigation in an establishment site for a user using a mobile electronic device

ABSTRACT

A method, system and computer program product for navigation in an establishment site for a first user using a first mobile electronic device are provided. The embodiment may include scanning an area around a current location of the first user to identify a set of second mobile electronic devices. The embodiment may also include referencing one or more resources for: identifying a set of second users for each of the set of second mobile electronic devices; analyzing schedules of the set of second users to identify expected current locations of each of the set of second users in an establishment site; and identifying the current location of the first user relative to the expected current locations of at least some of the set of second users by referencing a map of the establishment site. The embodiment may further include receiving notification of a position of the current location in the establishment site.

BACKGROUND

The present invention relates to navigation for a user using a mobileelectronic device, and more specifically, navigation in an establishmentsite.

Indoor positioning systems (IPS) require a significant amount ofhardware to be deployed, specifically Bluetooth® beacons (Bluetooth andall Bluetooth-related trademarks and logos are trademarks or registeredtrademarks of BLUETOOTH SIG, Inc. and/or its affiliates) and Wi-Fi®routers (Wi-Fi and all Wi-Fi-related trademarks and logos are trademarksor registered trademarks of Wi-Fi Alliance and/or its affiliates) toallow the trilateration of a user's position. Deploying an IPS on alarge site, such as a large corporate enterprise site, can be cumbersomeand cost prohibitive.

SUMMARY

According to one embodiment, a method, system and computer programproduct for navigation in an establishment site for a first user using afirst mobile electronic device are provided. The embodiment may includecanning an area around a current location of the first user to identifya set of second mobile electronic devices. The embodiment may alsoinclude referencing one or more resources for: identifying a set ofsecond users for each of the set of second mobile electronic devices;analyzing schedules of the set of second users to identify expectedcurrent locations of each of the set of second users in an establishmentsite; and identifying the current location of the first user relative tothe expected current locations of at least some of the set of secondusers by referencing a map of the establishment site. The embodiment mayfurther include receiving notification of a position of the currentlocation in the establishment site.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided acomputer-implemented method for navigation in an establishment site fora first user using a first mobile electronic device by carrying out amethod at a remote server comprising: providing an application to thefirst mobile electronic device of a first user to carry out scanning ofan area around a current location of the first user to identify a set ofsecond mobile electronic devices; identifying a set of second users forthe set of second mobile electronic devices from a resource; analyzingschedules of the set of second users from a scheduling resource toidentify expected current locations of each of the set of second usersin an establishment site; identifying the current location of the firstuser relative to the expected current locations of at least some of theset of second users by referencing a map of the establishment site; andproviding notification of a position of the current location in theestablishment site.

According to another aspect of the present invention there is provided asystem for navigation in an establishment site for a first user using afirst mobile electronic device, the first mobile electronic devicecomprising: a processor and a memory configured to provide computerprogram instructions to the processor to execute the function ofcomponents; a scanning component for scanning an area around a currentlocation of the first user to identify a set of second mobile electronicdevices; a referencing component for referencing one or more resourcesfor: identifying a set of second users for the set of second mobileelectronic devices; analyzing schedules of the set of second users toidentify expected current locations of each of the set of second usersin an establishment site; and identifying the current location of thefirst user relative to the expected current locations of at least someof the set of second users by referencing a map of the establishmentsite; and a position component for receiving notification of a positionof the current location in the establishment site.

According to a further aspect of the present invention there is provideda computer program product for navigation in an establishment site for afirst user using a first mobile electronic device, the computer programproduct comprising a computer readable storage medium having programinstructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable bya processor to cause the processor to: scan, by the first mobileelectronic device, an area around a current location of the first userto identify a set of second mobile electronic devices; reference one ormore resources for: identifying a set of second users for each of theset of second mobile electronic devices; analyzing schedules of the setof second users to identify expected current locations of each of theset of second users in an establishment site; and identifying thecurrent location of the first user relative to the expected currentlocations of at least some of the set of second users by referencing amap of the establishment site; and receive notification of a position ofthe current location in the establishment site.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The subject matter regarded as the invention is particularly pointed outand distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification.The invention, both as to organization and method of operation, togetherwith objects, features, and advantages thereof, may best be understoodby reference to the following detailed description when read with theaccompanying drawings.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described, byway of example only, with reference to the following drawings in which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams illustrating an exampleembodiment of the described invention;

FIG. 2 is a swim-lane flow diagram of an example embodiment of a methodin accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 3 is block diagram of an example embodiment of a system inaccordance with the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile electronic devicein which the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a computer system or cloudserver in which the present invention may be implemented;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a cloud computing environment in whichthe present invention may be implemented; and

FIG. 7 is a diagram of abstraction model layers of a cloud computingenvironment in which the present invention may be implemented.

It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration,elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale.For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggeratedrelative to other elements for clarity. Further, where consideredappropriate, reference numbers may be repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous features.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A method and system of indoor navigation are described for a user usinga mobile electronic device. The method and system use other user'smobile electronic devices as beacons to determine the user's position.Calendar or scheduling data is used to map the other users to knownlocations in an indoor establishment from which the user's position canbe determined.

The method scans for other user's mobile electronic devices nearby anduses them as dynamic beacons assigning positions on a site map usinginformation about the expected temporal location of a device on the map.

This method is applicable to locations in an establishment site. Anestablishment site may be a large corporate office, a retail park, aneducational environment, or other establishment in which there areregistered users whose details are provided on a database includingscheduling information for the users. In a corporate environment,employees may be registered in a database including schedulingcapabilities for meetings and other events. In a retail environment suchas a shopping mall, shop employees and other staff may be registered ina database with their working shift schedules and locations. Similarly,students in a university campus may be registered on a database withtheir lectures and tutorials and locations.

The method provides crowd-sourced location information that may be usedto aid an Indoor Positioning System (IPS) by using presumed locations ofother devices in a given establishment or area. An application needingto use an IPS may add the described functionality to the software stackin the device that wants to be positioned.

The method may use a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) foraccessing distributed directory information services over an InternetProtocol (IP) network for an enterprise or organization.

The advantage of the described method and system is that there is noneed to deploy additional hardware to the establishment, it is notdependent on an existing wireless infrastructure, and it does notrequire calibration.

Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, schematic diagrams show an exampleembodiment of an establishment site 100 including multiple rooms 110,120, 130, 140, 150 and a corridor 160.

A first user 101A has a first user mobile electronic device 101 and thefirst user 101A wishes to establish her location in the establishment.She may have a meeting in a room 110 and may be unsure of the room'slocation relative to her current position.

Second users 111A-114A, 121A-123A, 131A, 141A, 151A may be located innearby rooms 110, 120, 130, 140, 150. These may be, for example, meetingrooms or open-plan workspaces 110, 120 in which multiple second users111A-114A, 121A-123A are present, or individual workspaces 130, 140, 150where one or two second user are present 131A, 141A, 151A.

As described further below, the first user 101A may use her mobileelectronic device 101 to scan the surrounding area within a radius ofher current location. The first user 101 who wishes to use thenavigation functionality must access or download software onto hermobile electronic device 101 with permissions to scan for other userdevices.

The scan may obtain a list of nearby second user mobile electronicdevices with an identifier such as a media access control (MAC) address.The scan may be by a wireless technology standard such as WiFi orBluetooth®.

The first user mobile electronic device 101 may access one or moreresources of users that identifies second users of the second mobileelectronic devices and provides a schedule of the expected locations ofthe second users in the establishment site. This may be carried out viaa server, such as a central server of the establishment or a cloudserver, or this may be carried out on the first user mobile electronicdevice 101 via scheduling functionality. The individuals, their scheduledata, and the devices registered to the individuals may be provided bymultiple databases and scheduling systems that already exist for userswithin an establishment.

As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the room locations of the second users may beobtained from the second users schedules and may be referenced to a sitemap of the establishment site. A geographical referencing method such astrilateration or triangulation may be used to determine the first user'slocation from distances 115, 125, 135, 145, 155 from each room 110, 120,130, 140, 150 in which scanned second users are located.

Referring to FIG. 2, a swim-lane flow diagram 200 shows an exampleembodiment of a method at a mobile electronic device 101 of a first userand a server 210. Some of the method steps shown on the server 210 maybe carried out on a mobile electronic device 101.

The mobile electronic device 101 may scan 201 an area around the currentlocation of the first user to identify a set of second mobile electronicdevices. The method at the mobile electronic device 101 may reference202 one or more resources using the set of second mobile electronicdevice identifiers.

The referencing 202 by the mobile electronic device 101 may access adatabase via a server 210 providing reference functionality. The server210 may identify 211 a set of second users of the identified set ofsecond mobile electronic devices from a register of users. The methodmay analyze 212 schedules of the set of second users to identifyexpected current locations of the second users and may identify 213expected current locations of the set of second users. This may also becarried out via the server 210 or via scheduling functionality of themobile electronic device 110.

Rules and statistics may be applied to identify an expected currentlocation of a user. For example, there may be probabilities assigned tomeeting participants to determine their likelihood of being physicallyat a scheduled location. Different factors may affect the probability,including whether the user is the room booker or an attendant. Thebooker may be given a slightly greater weight than the other attendantsas those who book room are more likely to be physically present in aroom.

A scheduling resource of a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)may be used for accessing distributed directory information servicesover an Internet Protocol (IP) network. The directory service mayprovide an organized set of records, such as an enterprise contactsdirectory. The LDAP may contain information about users' default officeand scheduled meetings. This may be combined with information about theusers' devices such as their MAC addresses.

Information about default site locations may also be used. If, forexample, a user is not in a meeting, then he is expected to be in hisdefault office address.

There are many other factors that can influence the probability of anindividual being at a specific location.

The method at the server 210 may reference 214 a site map and mayidentify 215 a current location of the first user relative to theexpected current locations of at least some of the second users. Thismay use a geographical referencing method such as trilateration ortriangulation from known locations of the second users.

The server 210 may provide this information to the first user mobileelectronic device 101 that receives 203 notification of the positions ofthe current location in the establishment site and may also receive 204navigation instructions to navigate from the current location to atarget location in the establishment site.

The LDAP may be used to initiate the described navigation method and mayoffer another source of verification once the use of the method isprominent.

The LDAP may be used to detect where the user navigating the site is.For example, if a first user Fred is walking around A block and detectsa colleague Dan's signal, Fred may check with the LDAP where he issupposed to be right now. If the answer is A121, which is Dan's defaultoffice, then it adds to the probability that Fred is in A block. If theanswer is D121, a meeting room with 12 people, then it adds to theprobability that Fred is in D block. The D block location may be testedby checking if the devices of the other meeting attendees are alsodetected. The method may also create a probability score of “did Danactually move from his desk to the meeting room for this meeting”, todetermine the likelihood that this is the location of Dan's device.

This may be carried out for tens of second users' devices for a firstuser, and a confidence score may be obtained of where the first user is.In the long term, the LDAP will not contribute as much weight to theconfidence score as other users using the described installed devicesoftware. As more users install the device software, the method maydetect the location directly from calendar or user data on the devices,without having to go through the LDAP and hardware MAC address lists inthe backend.

Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram shows an example embodiment of amobile electronic device 101 and a server 210 providing the describedfunctionality.

The mobile electronic device 101 may be any form of identifiableelectronic device that may be carried around by a user. This may be asmart phone, a tablet, a laptop computer, etc. The mobile electronicdevice 101 may include at least one processor 301, a hardware module, ora circuit for executing the functions of the described components whichmay be software units executing on the at least one processor. Memory302 may be configured to provide computer instructions 303 to the atleast one processor 301 to carry out the functionality of thecomponents.

The mobile electronic device 101 may include a client navigation system320 including a scanning component 321 for scanning an area around acurrent location of the first user to identify a set of second mobileelectronic devices. The scanning component 321 may use a wirelesstechnology standard scan and identifies media access control (MAC)addresses of other users' mobile electronic devices.

The client navigation system 320 may include a referencing component 322for referencing one or more resources 340 via a server navigation system330 for: identifying a set of second users for the set of second mobileelectronic devices; analyzing schedules of the set of second users toidentify expected current locations of each of the set of second usersin an establishment site; and identifying the current location of thefirst user relative to the expected current locations of at least someof the set of second users by referencing a map of the establishmentsite. In one embodiment, the resources 340 may include an LDAP system.

The client navigation system 320 may also include a position component323 for receiving notification of a position of the current location inthe establishment site and a navigation component 324 for receivingnavigation instructions from the current location to a target locationin the establishment site.

The server 210 may include at least one processor 311, a hardwaremodule, or a circuit for executing the functions of the describedcomponents which may be software units executing on the at least oneprocessor. Multiple processors running parallel processing threads maybe provided enabling parallel processing of some or all of the functionsof the components. Memory 312 may be configured to provide computerinstructions 313 to the at least one processor 311 to carry out thefunctionality of the components.

A server navigation system 330 may be provided at the server 210 incommunication with the client navigation systems 320 of multiple users.

The server navigation system 330 may include a user identifyingcomponent 331 for identifying a set of second users for the set ofsecond mobile electronic devices received from the client navigationsystem 320. This may reference a resource 340 mapping users to userdevices.

The server navigation system 330 may include a schedule referencingcomponent 332 for analyzing schedules of the set of second usersprovided via the resources 340 and an expected location component 333for identifying expected current locations of each of the set of secondusers in an establishment site. The schedule referencing component 332may reference the resources 340 that include schedules of registeredusers including a location directory of events with participants withinthe establishment site. The resources 340 may include LDAP resources.

The schedule referencing component 332 may include applying a defaultlocation for a second user if the second user has no scheduled event andapplying probability rules to determine the probability of a second userbeing at a scheduled event.

The server navigation system 330 may include a current locationcomponent 335 for identifying the current location of the first userrelative to the expected current locations of at least some of the setof second users by using a map referencing component 334 to reference amap 350 of the establishment site.

An example scenario is now described in a corporate site with access toa database of meetings happening in the site, the attendees, and thedevices registered to those attendees. The method scans for nearbyBluetooth® and WiFi signals of other employees. If the method detects aset of devices of other employees, who are expected to be meeting in aspecific location at this time, then the device may infer that it isnear that location. With this information extrapolated to several eventshappening on site, the device may position itself.

A user of the method wants to know what room area he is in, in order toinform a colleague. The method scans the location and detects severalother devices in the vicinity (e.g. smartphones, laptops). The methodrecords the MAC addresses of the devices to identify them. The methodretrieves the owner information of those other devices and the scheduleinformation of these owners, giving an expected location.

The method identifies the nearby devices belong to three people who arecurrently scheduled to be in room G201. It is therefore highly likelythat the location of these devices is room G201.

The method may verify that this MAC address is where it is supposed tobe by cross checking with other MAC addresses it has detected. If itdetects the MAC address of three out of five participants of a specificmeeting, then it will be more confident that they are actually meetingtogether in the same room than if it were to only detect one out of fiveparticipants.

The more devices in the vicinity with a presumed location attached (desknumber, cashier location, meeting room, etc.) the more confidence themethod may have on it's determined location.

Using multiple locations of owners of the devices, the location of theuser can be trilaterated, triangulated or calculated by anothergeometric means and the user's location is pinpointed on the map of thesite.

FIG. 4 shows a block diagram of a mobile electronic device 101 that maybe used in embodiments of the disclosure. The mobile electronic device101 may be a smart phone, a satellite phone, a tablet or a mobilecomputing device.

The mobile electronic device 101 may include a processor 405 (e.g., amicroprocessor) for processing the functions of the mobile electronicdevice 101 and a display 420 to allow a user to see the phone numbersand other information and messages. The mobile electronic device 101 mayfurther include an input element 425 to allow a user to inputinformation into the device (e.g., input buttons, touch screen, etc.), aspeaker 430 to allow the user to hear voice communication, music, etc.,and a microphone 435 to allow the user to transmit his or her voicethrough the mobile electronic device 101.

The processor 410 of the mobile electronic device 101 may connect to amemory 415. The memory 415 may be in the form of a computer-readablemedium that stores data and, optionally, computer-executableinstructions.

The mobile electronic device 101 may also include a communicationelement 440 for connection to communication channels (e.g., a cellulartelephone network, data transmission network, Wi-Fi® network,satellite-phone network, Internet network, Satellite Internet Network,etc.). The communication element 440 may include an associated wirelesstransfer element, such as an antenna.

The communication element 440 may include a subscriber identity module(SIM) in the form of an integrated circuit that stores an internationalmobile subscriber identity and the related key used to identify andauthenticate a subscriber using the mobile electronic device 101. One ormore subscriber identity modules may be removable from the mobileelectronic device 101 or embedded in the mobile electronic device 101.

The mobile electronic device 101 may further include a contactlesselement 450, which is typically implemented in the form of asemiconductor chip (or other data storage element) with an associatedwireless transfer element, such as an antenna. The contactless element450 may be associated with (e.g., embedded within) the mobile electronicdevice 101 and data or control instructions transmitted via a cellularnetwork may be applied to the contactless element 450 by means of acontactless element interface (not shown). The contactless elementinterface may function to permit the exchange of data and/or controlinstructions between mobile electronic device circuitry (and hence thecellular network) and the contactless element 450.

The contactless element 450 may be capable of transferring and receivingdata using a near field communications (NFC) capability (or near fieldcommunications medium) typically in accordance with a standardizedprotocol or data transfer mechanism (e.g., ISO 14443/NFC). Near fieldcommunications capability is a short-range communications capability,such as radio-frequency identification (RFID), Bluetooth®, infra-red, orother data transfer capability that can be used to exchange data betweenthe mobile electronic device 101 and an interrogation device. Thus, themobile electronic device 101 may be capable of communicating andtransferring data and/or control instructions via both a cellularnetwork and near field communications capability.

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram of components of a computing device thatmay be provided in the form of the mobile electronic device 101 or theserver 210 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. Itshould be appreciated that FIG. 5 provides only an illustration of oneimplementation and does not imply any limitations with regard to theenvironments in which different embodiments may be implemented. Manymodifications to the depicted environment may be made.

Computing device can include one or more processors 502, one or morecomputer-readable RAMs 504, one or more computer-readable ROMs 506, oneor more computer readable storage media 508, device drivers 512,read/write drive or interface 514, and network adapter or interface 516,all interconnected over a communications fabric 518. Communicationsfabric 518 can be implemented with any architecture designed for passingdata and/or control information between processors (such asmicroprocessors, communications and network processors, etc.), systemmemory, peripheral devices, and any other hardware components within thesystem.

One or more operating systems 510, and application programs 511, arestored on one or more of the computer readable storage media 508 forexecution by one or more of the processors 502 via one or more of therespective RAMs 504 (which typically include cache memory). In theillustrated embodiment, each of the computer readable storage media 508can be a magnetic disk storage device of an internal hard drive, CD-ROM,DVD, memory stick, magnetic tape, magnetic disk, optical disk, asemiconductor storage device such as RAM, ROM, EPROM, flash memory, orany other computer readable storage media that can store a computerprogram and digital information, in accordance with embodiments of theinvention.

Computing device can also include a R/W drive or interface 514 to readfrom and write to one or more portable computer readable storage media526. Application programs 511 on computing device can be stored on oneor more of the portable computer readable storage media 526, read viathe respective R/W drive or interface 514 and loaded into the respectivecomputer readable storage media 508.

Computing device can also include a network adapter or interface 516,such as a TCP/IP adapter card or wireless communication adapter.Application programs 511 on computing device can be downloaded to thecomputing device from an external computer or external storage devicevia a network (for example, the Internet, a local area network or otherwide area networks or wireless networks) and network adapter orinterface 516. From the network adapter or interface 516, the programsmay be loaded into the computer readable storage media 508. The networkmay comprise copper wires, optical fibers, wireless transmission,routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and edge servers.

Computing device can also include a display screen 520, a keyboard orkeypad 522, and a computer mouse or touchpad 524. Device drivers 512interface to display screen 520 for imaging, to keyboard or keypad 522,to computer mouse or touchpad 524, and/or to display screen 520 forpressure sensing of alphanumeric character entry and user selections.The device drivers 512, R/W drive or interface 514, and network adapteror interface 516 can comprise hardware and software stored in computerreadable storage media 508 and/or ROM 506.

The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present invention.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present invention may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present invention.

Aspects of the present invention are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of theinvention. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, orother programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, suchthat the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computeror other programmable data processing apparatus, create means forimplementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or blockdiagram block or blocks. These computer readable program instructionsmay also be stored in a computer readable storage medium that can directa computer, a programmable data processing apparatus, and/or otherdevices to function in a particular manner, such that the computerreadable storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises anarticle of manufacture including instructions which implement aspects ofthe function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram blockor blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present invention. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks maysometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon thefunctionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of theblock diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations of blocksin the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can be implementedby special purpose hardware-based systems that perform the specifiedfunctions or acts or carry out combinations of special purpose hardwareand computer instructions.

It is to be understood that although this disclosure includes a detaileddescription on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recitedherein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present invention are capable of being implemented inconjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows:

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows:

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows:

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure that includes anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 includes one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 6 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 7, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 6) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 7 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of theinvention are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layers andcorresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may include applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and navigation processing 96.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present inventionhave been presented for purposes of illustration but are not intended tobe exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Improvements and modifications can be made to the foregoing withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for navigation inan establishment site for a first user using a first mobile electronicdevice by carrying out a method at the first mobile electronic devicecomprising: scanning, by the first mobile electronic device, an areaaround a current location of the first user to identify a set of secondmobile electronic devices; referencing one or more resources for:identifying a set of second users for the set of second mobileelectronic devices; analyzing schedules of the set of second users toidentify expected current locations of each of the set of second usersin an establishment site; and identifying the current location of thefirst user relative to the expected current locations of at least someof the set of second users by referencing a map of the establishmentsite; and receiving notification of a position of the current locationin the establishment site.
 2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:including receiving navigation instructions from the current location toa target location in the establishment site.
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein identifying the current location of the first user relative tothe expected current locations of at least some of the set of secondusers by referencing a map of the establishment site, appliestrilateration or triangulation from three or more locations of secondusers in the establishment site.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein theone or more resources includes schedules of registered users including alocation directory of events with participants within the establishmentsite.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein analyzing the one or moreresources includes applying a default location for a second user if thesecond user has no scheduled event.
 6. The method of claim 4, whereinanalyzing the one or more resources includes statistical analysis toidentify a most likely expected location of a second user.
 7. The methodof claim 4, wherein analyzing the one or more resources includesidentifying an expected current location of a sub-set of the secondusers scheduled to be at a location of an event by increasing anaccuracy probability of second users' expected current locations basedon an identified grouping of the sub-set of the second users in thescanning
 8. The method of claim 2, wherein the target location isdetermined from a scheduling resource.
 9. The method of claim 1,including downloading an application to the first mobile electronicdevice to obtain permissions to scan for other users' mobile electronicdevices.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the scanning uses a wirelesstechnology standard scan and identifies media access control (MAC)addresses of other users' mobile electronic devices.
 11. The method ofclaim 1, including a method at a remote server comprising: receiving arequest from the first mobile electronic device including the set ofsecond mobile electronic device identifiers; and carrying out thereferencing the one or more resources to: identify a set of second usersfor the set of second mobile electronic devices; analyze schedules ofthe set of second users to identify expected current locations of eachof the set of second users in an establishment site; and identify thecurrent location of the first user relative to the expected currentlocations of at least some of the set of second users by referencing amap of the establishment site.
 12. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: providing an application to the first mobile electronicdevice of the first user to carry out scanning of the area around thecurrent location of the first user to identify the set of second mobileelectronic devices; identifying the set of second users for the set ofsecond mobile electronic devices from a resource; analyzing schedules ofthe set of second users from the scheduling resource to identify theexpected current locations of each of the set of second users in theestablishment site; identifying the current location of the first userrelative to the expected current locations of at least some of the setof second users by referencing the map of the establishment site; andproviding notification of the position of the current location in theestablishment site.
 13. A system for navigation in an establishment sitefor a first user using a first mobile electronic device, the firstmobile electronic device comprising: a processor and a memory configuredto provide computer program instructions to the processor to execute thefunction of components; a scanning component for scanning an area arounda current location of the first user to identify a set of second mobileelectronic devices; a referencing component for referencing one or moreresources for: identifying a set of second users for the set of secondmobile electronic devices; analyzing schedules of the set of secondusers to identify expected current locations of each of the set ofsecond users in an establishment site; and identifying the currentlocation of the first user relative to the expected current locations ofat least some of the set of second users by referencing a map of theestablishment site; and a position component for receiving notificationof a position of the current location in the establishment site.
 14. Thesystem of claim 13, including a navigation component for receivingnavigation instructions from the current location to a target locationin the establishment site.
 15. The system of claim 13, wherein thescanning component uses a wireless technology standard scan andidentifies media access control (MAC) addresses of other users' mobileelectronic devices.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein the wirelesstechnology standard is Wi-Fi® or Bluetooth®.
 17. The system of claim 13,including a server comprising: a user identifying component foridentifying a set of second users for the set of second mobileelectronic devices; a schedule referencing component for analyzingschedules of the set of second users to identify expected currentlocations of each of the set of second users in an establishment site;and a current location component for identifying the current location ofthe first user relative to the expected current locations of at leastsome of the set of second users by referencing a map of theestablishment site.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein the currentlocation component applies trilateration or triangulation from three ormore locations of second users in the establishment site.
 19. The systemof claim 17, wherein the database includes schedules of registered usersincluding a location directory of events with participants within theestablishment site.
 20. A computer program product for navigation in anestablishment site for a first user using a first mobile electronicdevice, the computer program product comprising a computer readablestorage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, theprogram instructions executable by a processor to cause the processorto: scan, by the first mobile electronic device, an area around acurrent location of the first user to identify a set of second mobileelectronic devices; reference one or more resources for: identifying aset of second users for each of the set of second mobile electronicdevices; analyzing schedules of the set of second users to identifyexpected current locations of each of the set of second users in anestablishment site; and identifying the current location of the firstuser relative to the expected current locations of at least some of theset of second users by referencing a map of the establishment site; andreceive notification of a position of the current location in theestablishment site.